When The Muny audiences settle into their seats for each production of the season, they are greeted by a beloved familiar voice.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this evening’s production of…” is spoken by a savory baritone. His voice melts in one’s ears in the same way that hot chocolate warms the body on a winter day.
That voice belongs to Ken Page. For the past dozen years, the veteran of Broadway and film was known as “The Voice of The Muny” in addition to performing in countless productions – as recently as this past season. Page passed away on Monday, September 30 at his home in St. Louis. He was 70.
“This is a profound, painful loss — Ken meant everything to this theatre, and to me,” said Muny Artistic Director & Executive Producer Mike Isaacson said in a special tribute The Muny penned to honor Page’s legacy and his treasured connection to the organization. “His gifts were singular, supreme and treasured by audiences around the world, but no more than at The Muny.”
He originated classic roles on Broadway that are still being performed to this very day. The character of Ken in the classic Black musical “Ain’t Misbehavin’” refers to him. He was the first-ever Old Deuteronomy in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s cultural phenomenon “Cats” when the show premiered in 1982. He voiced the character of Oogie Boogie in Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
“Ken Page — through his excellence, his poise and above all his remarkable spirit — was so much more than an icon,” Muny President & CEO Kwofe Coleman said in the tribute. “He cared deeply for his work but valued most the people who had the gift of knowing him.”
Even as a familiar name on Broadway and in film, Page always presented an energy of accessibility with every exchange. He looked everyone in the eye. He hugged with familiarity. Ken Page the man was as comforting as his voice.
His final role was as The bishop in the Muny’s 2024 presentation of “Les Misérables.”
Page took his final bow where it all began.
Kenneth Page was born on January 20, 1954. He was raised by his mother Gloria and his stepfather Garvin Gilstrap. He would grow up to become “The Voice of The Muny,” but it was The Muny that introduced him to musical theater as a career path when he experienced a performance from the free seats as a young child. It was that show that planted the seed for him envisioning a world far bigger than his surroundings of Carr Square Village.
While in elementary school he was inspired by a teacher and an older cousin to pursue theater. After graduating from Bishop DuBourg High School in 1972 he attended Fontbonne University (then college) on a full scholarship. He majored in theater.
Page made his Broadway debut as Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the all-Black revival of “Guys and Dolls.” He went on to originate a pair of the most memorable roles in the canon of musical theater. He enjoyed steady work both in films, television and on stage – including the Muny – and as a cabaret performer.
In 2010, he returned home to St. Louis full time and became even more connected to The Muny through his greeting and his performances. He also directed, wrote and produced stage shows. He wrote and directed the musical “Cafe Chanson” for Upstream Theater at the Kranzberg Arts Center.
Page has Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Manhattan Association of Cabaret Artists (MAC), Project One Voice/Black Theatre and the St. Louis Arts Foundation. And in 2019, Page received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the St. Louis Arts and Education Council.
Page spoke to The American in 2013 about “Café Chanson,” and what he hoped seeing the production would inspire in the audience.
“Live your life so one day you can look back on it and feel like you’ve lived a good life,” Page said. “Live now so you can look back and say, ‘I did what I wanted to do, I became what I wanted to be, I loved who I wanted to love.’”
They were words he himself lived by.
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